NASA’s stranded astronauts will remain in space longer, with their return now postponed until at least late March.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA has announced that the extended mission of its two astronauts will see them remaining in space for an additional period. This extension signifies they are now expected to return to Earth in the spring, nearly ten months after their launch aboard Boeing’s Starliner capsule.

The latest update regarding their extended stay was shared by NASA on Tuesday, marking yet another delay for astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Initially slated for a week-long mission, their journey began on June 5, as part of Boeing’s first crewed flight to the International Space Station (ISS). However, plans shifted significantly when NASA decided to send the Starliner capsule back to Earth without a crew in September, transforming their mission from just eight days to approximately eight months.

Wilmore and Williams will now remain in orbit until the end of March or even April, largely due to the postponement of their replacement crew’s launch. NASA informed that a new crew must be sent up before the current astronauts can return, and this next mission has been delayed by over a month.

Originally, the next crew of four was scheduled to launch in February, enabling Wilmore and Williams to come back home by the end of that month alongside two other astronauts. However, delays in the preparations for SpaceX’s new capsule have resulted in this launch being rescheduled for no earlier than late March.

NASA did contemplate the possibility of utilizing another SpaceX capsule to ferry the replacement crew, aiming to maintain the schedule. Ultimately, though, the agency decided that waiting for the new capsule would be the most efficient approach to transport the upcoming crew, ensuring a smoother transition.

According to agency officials, NASA prefers to have overlapping crews aboard the ISS to facilitate a seamless handover. Typically, missions to the space station last around six months, although a select few can extend to a full year.